Sick of Republicans who are clueless? Tired of Democrats selling you out? There is an alternative! That alternative is the Peace and Freedom Party.

We fight for the things all working people need: free education, from pre-school through university; an end to U.S. intervention throughout the world; free health care for all, such as enjoyed by workers in every other industrialized nation in the world; full employment at union wages, with generous paid vacation and other benefits. Workers, both documented and undocumented, have the right to organize, safe working conditions, and paid sick leave. We can pay for these things if the rich are taxed at rates they can well afford.

These are not just planks in our platform, these are issues Peace and Freedom candidates and members work for. The many problems facing the working class concern us because we are a part of that class. We know we can’t get what we need just by voting for it, so we participate in mass organization and direct action as part of the labor, anti-war, civil rights, and other movements, and now the Occupy movement. But we also know we can’t get what we need unless we also vote for it—and that’s why we need an electoral party rooted in and responsible to the movement.

Beyond these specific issues and movements, we understand the underlying reason why we have to keep struggling for the things we need is the ownership of the world and the conditions of our labor by a very few, very wealthy people—capitalism. To win any of these struggles finally and for good, we need to replace capitalism with a working-class democracy in which production is planned to meet human needs—socialism.

This June your ballot will be different. Except for the Presidential primary (which hasn’t changed), you will no longer vote for candidates to represent your political party in November. Instead, you will vote on which two candidates get to run again in the fall. The party labels that appear next to the candidates’ names will have little meaning because political parties no longer control the use of their names.

But you won’t see the real change until November, when you will have only two choices. They might well both be Democrats or both be Republicans. “Top two” elections relegate small party and independent candidates to June when fewer people turn out to vote.

Blame Prop. 14, passed in June 2010 as a result of several million dollars worth of advertising by big business friends of Arnold Schwarzenegger. They thought that by weakening political parties, both large and small, they could use their money more efficiently to influence elections. We think it’s unconstitutional and are joining with other plaintiffs to challenge it in court.

Register and vote

To vote on November 6 you must register by October 22. You can do so online if you have a valid drivers license or DMV id card. When you register to vote, please register with the Peace and Freedom Party.

To see your ballot and find information on all the candidates, visit Smart Voter.